The 1953 season

Super Typhoon Tess (1953)

Super Typhoon Tess reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 16, 1953 and September 29, 1953, with a lowest pressure of 900 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Tess, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1953 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 16, 1953 to September 29, 1953
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
900 mb (26.58 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.8
Fastest the center moved
37 kt (43 mph)
Identifier
WP151953

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 16, 12:006.5N 153.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 16, 18:007.8N 152.3E1006 mbMixed
Sep 17, 00:009.0N 151.3E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:009.6N 150.3E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:009.9N 149.3E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0010.4N 148.4E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0010.7N 147.5E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0010.8N 146.3E20 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0010.9N 144.9E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0011.1N 143.0E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0011.5N 141.0E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0011.9N 139.5E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0012.3N 138.6E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0012.7N 138.0E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0013.0N 137.3E60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0013.2N 137.0E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0013.5N 136.5E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0014.0N 136.1E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0014.5N 135.6E65 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0015.4N 135.0E65 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0016.2N 134.5E75 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0017.1N 134.0E85 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0018.1N 133.5E100 kt993 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0019.5N 133.2E150 kt900 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0020.5N 133.1E135 kt900 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0021.5N 132.9E120 kt900 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0022.5N 133.0E120 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0023.3N 133.1E120 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0024.1N 133.1E90 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0024.8N 133.1E90 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0025.7N 133.2E90 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0026.8N 133.6E90 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0028.2N 133.8E90 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0029.8N 134.2E65 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0031.6N 134.8E65 kt930 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0033.6N 136.3E65 kt930 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0035.8N 137.9E65 kt974 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0038.0N 141.0E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 00:0041.0N 143.0E50 kt978 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0043.0N 145.5E45 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 26, 12:0045.0N 148.0E40 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 26, 18:0046.0N 149.0E50 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 27, 00:0047.0N 150.0E45 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 27, 06:0048.5N 151.0E45 kt982 mbMixed
Sep 27, 12:0049.2N 152.0E40 kt986 mbMixed
Sep 27, 18:0051.0N 151.0E990 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 00:0051.0N 152.5E990 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 06:0051.0N 154.1E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 12:0051.0N 154.6E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 18:0050.9N 157.4E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 00:0050.7N 159.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 06:0050.3N 160.5E1003 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1953

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.